Scott Wilson: 6 Things You Didn't Know About The Walking Dead Actor

Before he played a kindly veterinarian Hershel Greene, Scott Wilson was an OG hippie, starting out in showbiz as a reckless, anti-establishment teen. Over the next fifty years, his career would grow and evolve — and Scott became well-acquainted with on-screen violence and, presumably, fake blood. Here are six things you may not have known about The Walking Dead actor!

He Got Started as an Actor While Very, Very Drunk: Scott told Rolling Stone that he originally hitchhiked to California at age 19 — in the early 1960s — to become "a songwriter or something." One of his roommates, however, was convinced that he should be a movie star. "I was so drunk one weekend that he physically carried me to an acting class," Scott remembered. "He tosses me on a couch, walked over and said, 'Who's in charge? You have a movie star to work with.'"

He added that he "wrote some not good songs" when he was younger.

He Had a Unique Reaction to Getting Pulled Over For a DUI: Scott's arresting officer for his August 18, 2012 DUI reported that he asked to do yoga poses instead of the standard field sobriety test.

He Was Murdered by Charlize Theron: Scott played Horton in 2003’s Monster, the last john that Charlize's based-on-real-life character Aileen Wuornos killed.

Credit:
Life Magazine

He Was on the Cover of Life Magazine in 1967: Then 24, Scott starred in the film In Cold Blood, based on the true crime classic by Truman Capote. He and co-star Robert Blake graced the May 12, 1967 cover of the iconic magazine, with Truman in between them.

"Every actor in the English-speaking world wanted those two roles, including [Paul] Newman and [Steve] McQueen," Scott reflected in a 1996 talk with the LA Times. "Brooks hired two 'unknowns' and he wanted to keep it that way. We were treated like two killers he had somehow run across."

The 71-Year-Old Performed His Own Stunts. "Internment" was a really action-heavy episode for Hershel — "like a mall Santa went crazy," said Chris — with all the zombie-killing and fence-jumping. On The Talking Dead that week, we learned that Scott did all those stunts himself, with a little help from "kneepads, adrenaline, and ibuprofen."

TWD Gained a Nonagenarian Fan When They Hired Scott: An Atlanta native, Scott told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the opportunity for the role of Hershel came up while he was visiting his mom, who was celebrating her 97th birthday. "My mother's a fan of the show," he said.

Did you learn something new about Scott? Got any other factoids to share? Let us know in the comments!